The divorce rate may be rising again, but I didn’t have to look far to find many happy couples to interview about their long-running marriages. And last month, when I asked Facebook friends to share the secrets of keeping an old love new, I received more responses than I had room to quote in a […]

The flu bug hit me with a double-whammy at Christmas, rebounding as a respiratory infection on New Year’s Day. Out of courtesy to the public, I cancelled social plans and stayed home during my weeks of recovery. It took getting sick to remind me that I hadn’t taken a moment to sit quietly since my […]

Are you stuck in a rut? Set in your ways? Afraid to take risks or try something new? The start of a new year is the perfect time to break free of our self-sabotaging beliefs and habits. My January column in Michigan Prime highlights several brave people who’ve taken the leap in midlife, plus I’ve provided […]

There’s no escaping the fact that Christmas is the most nostalgic — and over-hyped — American holiday. To anyone who’s battling a tough case of seasonal depression or a death in the family, the season of “comfort and joy” often feels like a month-long endurance test. Or, as Garrison Keillor once quipped in my all-time […]

Losing a beloved parent is difficult, no matter how old you are. As we age, we find ourselves attending more funerals for the parents of our friends. So, how do we support and comfort each other after such a life-altering loss? My November column in Michigan Prime discusses this issue. Look for the print edition […]

Welcome

If I had to state my philosophy in a nutshell, I'd borrow this gem from M.C. Richards: "All the arts we practice are apprenticeship. The Big Art is our life."

Focusing on lifestyle topics, I've freelanced for dozens of regional and national publications since 1984. Metro-Detroit readers know me best through my Sunday newspaper columns, which ran 14 years in The Daily Tribune and won a Best Local Column award from the Michigan Press Association.

Putting a fresh spin on midlife issues, I currently write a monthly "Life Lines" column for Michigan PRIME, delivered with Sunday editions of The Detroit News and Free Press. Whether you're facing a new empty nest, caring for elderly parents, or happily reinventing yourself after age 55, I'm writing "Life Lines" with you in mind.

My essays and features have been published and syndicated in many widely read publications, including, Reader's Digest, Better Homes & Gardens, Country Gardens, The Detroit News & Free Press, Victoria, Writer's Digest, Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion, Literary Mama, Spirituality and Health, The Christian Science Monitor. Several of my essays are included in popular anthologies.

My collection of short essays, Writing Home highlights the years I worked at home as a family columnist while raising my son. Awarded several prizes for creative nonfiction, the book is a love letter to home and family life. Now in its second printing, Writing Home is also available on Kindle.

When I'm not writing in my home office, you'll find me in the art studio above our garage. My shrines and mixed-media assemblages have been featured in national publications and in juried art exhibits throughout southeast Michigan. And when I'm not here in Royal Oak, you'll find me in on the west coast of Michigan, working with my family on our historic Frank Lloyd Wright home on the St. Joseph River.